


Rather Too Scarce

by figure-skating-prompts (orphan_account)



Category: Figure Skating RPF
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, SO MUCH FLUFF, laughter really is the best medicine
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-01
Updated: 2018-07-01
Packaged: 2019-05-31 13:38:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,663
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15120545
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/figure-skating-prompts
Summary: Originally posted on Tumblr. Prompt: "something with yuzusho and yuzuru is trying to make shoma laugh as much as he can because he really loves shoma's laugh?""The first time that Yuzuru truly began to think that Shoma’s laugh was a sound and sight that he would never be able to live without, he immediately began to wrack his brain for ways to make sure that sound happened as often as possible, again and again."





	Rather Too Scarce

The first time that Yuzuru truly began to think that Shoma’s laugh was a sound and sight that he would never be able to live without, he immediately began to wrack his brain for ways to make sure that sound happened as often as possible, again and again.

It was, in just one word (though there were so many words and phrases and chains of words to describe that laugh and that look of Shoma laughing), magical.

When Shoma laughed, it usually began with some hesitancy, like he was trying to decide whether to give himself permission to laugh. Then, his nose would crinkle up like a rabbit—a perfect, beautiful, adorably goofy rabbit—and his eyes would brighten with his own amusement. Sometimes, Shoma would think to tone down his laughter with a reserved sort of glance away from whatever was bringing out the young man’s humor. But when he wasn’t thinking about it, Shoma would only grab at his sides or loosely wrap his arms around his stomach as he doubled over with laughter.

If one could catch Shoma at his most unguarded, one would probably instantly fall in love with his laugh. And with him.

Such was Yuzuru’s problem.

The first time he tried to elicit one of those magical laughs from Shoma, the best he could do was tell a joke at the younger man’s expense. The two were sitting in an interview together, and Shoma was, as Shoma usually was, tired. He bit back a yawn, and Yuzuru teasingly side-eyed him.

Across from them, the interviewer seemed to notice the younger man’s tiredness, and she smiled kindly, her microphone held close to her face. “Did we schedule this interview too early?” she asked with a small but polite laugh.

Yuzuru nodded emphatically, even as Shoma shook his head. “We should’ve brought a pillow and some blankets so Shoma’s more comfortable,” the older man joked, not unkindly.

With a snort, Shoma moved his hand to cover his mouth, scrunching up his face as he glanced over at Yuzuru. He nodded, though, as if admitting that the other man was correct in his statement.

“Maybe we should have brought some coffee,” the reporter chirped.

This time, Shoma laughed harder, and Yuzuru had to fight the urge to clutch his chest because of the utter intensity with which his heart was suddenly swelling too quickly at the thought that Shoma was absolutely perfect and adorable, and Yuzuru was actually able to make this perfect and adorable human being giggle.

Not just laugh. Giggle.

Unfortunately, every wonderful thing had to end, and Shoma eventually stopped laughing, gently rubbing at his sides. He was still smiling, though Yuzuru’s jokes apparently weren’t enough to keep him laughing for that long. That was fine, because Yuzuru was just going to have to try harder.

***

A week later, and Yuzuru and Shoma were making their way to their respective hotel rooms. Had they not had so much luggage with them, they might have even been holding hands, as boyfriends were apt to do, but the suitcases were too plenteous, and Yuzuru had to settle for walking closely beside the younger man. They were talking as they moved, though Shoma was already beginning to fish in his pocket for his key card.

“Think you can convince Keiji to switch rooms with me?” Yuzuru asked, and he was really only half-kidding. He certainly wouldn’t have minded if he had been able to room with Shoma for the duration of the week, but he also didn’t completely hate the idea of getting to sneak around with Shoma in the middle of the night and meeting up for coffee at an unseemly hour—maybe they could even go for a run together obnoxiously early, when Shoma was barely awake enough to even know what he was getting into.

Perhaps Yuzuru was day-dreaming too intently, when he should have been paying attention to walking, because he was walking upright the one moment and tipping forward the next.

Of course, tripping over his own feet didn’t particularly hurt (though it was starting to bruise his ego), but the noise that Yuzuru made as he stumbled was, admittedly, quite hilarious. He let out a prolonged yelp and tumbled before rolling to a stop to save himself. Blinking, Yuzuru shook his head and gave himself a cursory inspection to ensure that he was uninjured. He was, of course.

Shoma had turned, eyes wide, and he had to be sure that Yuzuru wasn’t hurt before he could even begin to wonder what had actually happened. “Yuzu—“

“I’m fine, I just tripped,” Yuzuru mumbled, wincing as he sat up.

“What was that noise?”

Yuzuru sighed. “Me, being a baby.”

“But you’re not hurt?” Shoma asked, and he was already beginning to smile. Perhaps Yuzuru hadn’t wanted to fall on his face in front of Shoma, but—but if physical comedy was another way of coaxing out that wonderful and glorious kind of laughter that only Shoma Uno was capable of, then physical comedy he should have.

A bit guiltily, Shoma began to laugh. “I’m sorry—“ he managed between breaths, “—but that noise you made—it sounded like a mouse, or something—“

While Yuzuru might have normally been frustrated by anyone else’s teasing him, Shoma somehow made the action positively endearing. He couldn’t even be mad, and—oh, Shoma was legitimately _doubling_ over with laughter. It might have seemed wrong, that Yuzuru was beaming while he was practically being insulted, but somehow—he couldn’t even care, when the younger man was gripping at his sides, eyes squeezed shut.

“I’m sorry—“ he managed, eventually smacking his hand against the wall to keep him upright.

The older man shook his head, and he pushed himself up. “No, don’t worry about it. I’m fine. Maybe this makes up for all the times I’ve _accidentally_ tripped you on the rink. Yeah?” He smiled lightly, innocently.

As he nodded, Shoma even had to wipe at his eyes, presumably to brush away some tears he was accumulating from laughing so hard, and _be still Yuzuru’s beating heart_ —

Worth it.

***

Although Yuzuru was used to successes, even he had to admit that he had been shown failures at different times in his life. Skating could be an inconsistent kind of activity. So could, apparently, trying to get Shoma to laugh. Sometimes, he would laugh so much that it was impossible to stop. And sometimes, he just sort of chuckled, and while the sound was no less magnificent, it certainly wasn’t as earth-shattering as it could have been.

What he had learned, though, from much trial and error, was that the best and most forceful of Shoma’s laughs came from the top of a podium.

Nationals had gone as expected—Yuzuru in first, Shoma in second. While it was likely that Shoma was somewhat frustrated with the fact that he hadn’t been able to secure his third national title, he was still grateful to have been able to compete with his boyfriend.

And not for nothing, but they had certainly pushed each other this time around.

Glancing away from the cameras, Yuzuru let his gaze settle on the bouquet of flowers cradled against his arm first, then back down at Shoma. The young man looked particularly…ravishing—was “ravishing” a good word? It had to be—his cheekbones particularly cutting and his focus set ahead of him. Maybe Shoma even looked confident right now, the lightest of smiles playing on his features, a sort of self-assurance more present on him than Yuzuru was used to seeing.

It was a good look, and of course it was, but he was missing something.

Yuzuru smiled, and he took a chance, elbowing Shoma lightly against the younger man’s shoulder. Shoma looked over, eyes bright. “Hey—“ he greeted with a wide, handsome grin.

“Hey,” Yuzuru replied, and he bit down on his lip. “So…we’re up on this podium,” he mentioned; of course, Yuzuru was pretending to be nonchalant, but he really did hope that his boyfriend would soon catch onto the idea. Unless, of course, all these recent successes had changed Shoma, had made him forget about their three-ish-competition-long ritual. He’d still be perfect, either way.

Nodding, Shoma looked back over at Yuzuru’s unoccupied elbow, the one he had just used to catch his attention. “…so we are,” he agreed. The young man scanned Yuzuru’s body, and he smirked. “Well? I need an opening.”

Immediately, Yuzuru held out his elbow, leaving a large enough space, just so that someone else—not anyone in particular (Shoma)—could thread their own arm through so that the two of them could form a wedding-like pose.

As Shoma moved his arm to rest against Yuzuru’s, the older man was actually the first to begin laughing. He threw his head back, just amused at the power that Shoma still had over him. That all he had to do was loop their arms together and smile sheepishly, and Yuzuru was a nervous, uncertain, and highly entertained mess.

Shoma began to laugh, too, nose crinkling up as he laughed, giggling as all the cameras turned to them and began to snap even more pictures in earnest. Of course, it wasn’t surprising that everyone was interested—they were two national champion figure skaters who also happened to be dating, and they had their own signature pose they used when they were both on the podium.

They were adorable, really.

Yuzuru let out a contented sigh as he turned his attention back to Shoma. “I love your laugh,” he admitted, almost like he was whispering a secret to the universe in the hopes that some greater powers were listening, that they would use all their efforts to ensure that the joy that Shoma had would be kept safe and that maybe they would allow Yuzuru to be the one to keep it safe.

Ducking his head as he only laughed more, Shoma nodded. “I love yours, too.”

* * *

**Author's Note:**

> All my completed fics are posted on figure-skating-prompts.tumblr.com, but if you see something there that should be here, let me know!


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